I agree that hybrids such as the Prius and now this car limit their market appeal with the futuristic interior styling and weird exterior styling. My wife wanted a car with the best mileage available, as she keeps her cars a long time and felt she could justify the expenditure. After driving the Prius (which she was prepared to like because of the mileage), she was turned off by the "Jetsons" interior and the vehicle dynamics. Her opinion was that the interior would become dated very quickly - not good if you keep your car for 10+ years like her.

She went for the Audi A3 TDI instead, as she liked the size, interior/exterior styling, and the way it drove (MUCH better than a Prius). Cost was about the same as a well-optioned Prius, so the only downsides were the cost of diesel fuel vs. gasoline and VW/Audi's reputation for crummy reliability vs. Toyota.

BMW will have a tough sell if they market this car for over $30-35k in this country. Environmentally conscious buyers typically don't want to pay much more than that for a car, as it's like buying an appliance to most of them. I applaud BMW for taking the technological risks they have with the I3, but agree that they missed it on the styling and price.